Pistou, a designer village house in Eygalières, Provence

A Hauvette & Madani Interior in the Heart of Eygalières

Pistou is a six-bedroom house in the middle of Eygalières, a Provençal town where the market, the bakery and the cafés are a two-minute walk, and the Alpilles start where the streets end. It sleeps up to 12 guests, which makes it a great house for a family or a group of friends.

What sets it apart is the work inside. The interiors are by Hauvette & Madani, the Paris studio founded in 2010 by two École Camondo graduates and named to Architectural Digest's AD100. Their register is a modern French one, sculptural and warm, built on marble, wood and bronze rather than reclaimed shutters and lavender sprigs.

Six bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, run from a 36-square-meter room down to snug rooms, one of them lined as a library. Downstairs holds a kitchen and long tables built for the kind of lunch that becomes dinner, a home cinema with an 85-inch screen, and a games room with three generations of Nintendo. There's a full workspace too, desks and a meeting table for 10, for the weeks when someone can't quite switch off.

Outside is where the day slows down. There's a pool, a sauna and a cold plunge for the contrast-therapy crowd, a summer kitchen and bar for cooking in the shade, and a pétanque court. Breakfast arrives each morning and the house is cleaned while you're out, so the only real decision is whether today is a market-and-cycling day or a nobody-leaves-the-pool one.

Layout

This vacation home for rent in Eygalières sleeps up to 12 guests. Six en-suite bedrooms sit alongside the communal heart of the house: a living room, a library, and a kitchen and dining built for long lunches. The cinema, games room and workspace sit apart from the bedrooms.

• Bedroom 1: King (or twin on request), en suite

• Bedroom 2: King (or twin on request), en suite

• Bedroom 3: Queen and single, en suite

• Bedroom 4: King (or twin on request), en suite

• Bedroom 5: King (or twin on request), en suite

• Bedroom 6: King (or twin on request), en suite

Experiences

Breakfast prepared and served each morning, daily housekeeping, and support from the local team around the clock. The hosts provide a pre-arrival house guide with their own favorites, from the Friday market to the back roads, tables and vineyards of the Alpilles.

Good to know

A taxe de séjour (tourist tax) applies, charged per guest per night and collected on arrival. All six bedrooms are air-conditioned. Beyond family stays, the house is set up for small off-sites and remote work, with individual desks, a 10-person meeting table and ultra-fast wi-fi.

Amenities & services

Private swimming pool, sauna, cold plunge, summer kitchen and bar, barbecue with utensils, pétanque, gym with Pilates Reformer, bike, dumbbells, bench, kids' playground, electric and children's bikes, two parking spaces, electric car charger, air conditioning in all bedrooms, hotel-grade bed linens, closets and hangers, hairdryer, bathrobes, towels, towel heater, bathroom care products, home cinema with 85-inch 4K screen and surround sound, gaming consoles (three generations of Nintendo), board games, poker set, baby crib, high chair, changing table, children's books and toys, ultra-fast wi-fi, 75-inch 4K TV, 4K monitor with keyboard, mouse and smart webcam, individual desks, 10-person meeting table, two refrigerators, professional kitchen equipment, two dishwashers, stove, microwave, filter and capsule coffee machines, 14-seat dining table, wine and spirits selection, kitchen basics provided (craft beers, Sicilian olive oil, Italian pasta and sauces, salt, pepper, vinegar), Sonos sound system, wood stove, bar, device chargers, washing machine, dryer, cleaning supplies, safe, video intercom, alarm, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, fire extinguisher, first aid kit

Around

Eygalières is one of the Alpilles' most coveted villages, a single main street of stone houses, galleries and cafés that fills on Friday mornings for the weekly market. The Café de la Place, on the square, is where the village drinks its pastis. Beyond the last houses, the Alpilles open into cypress lanes, olive groves and small vineyards made for slow cycling and long walks. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, 15 minutes away, has the Roman ruins of Glanum and the landscapes Van Gogh painted. Les Baux-de-Provence and its Carrières des Lumières turn a former quarry into a wall-to-wall projection of art. Arles, half an hour on, holds Roman monuments, Van Gogh's light, and the Gehry-designed LUMA tower, while the wild Camargue spreads south into salt flats, rice fields and white horses.

Location

Eygalières, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France. Nearest major airport: Marseille Provence (MRS, a 50-minute drive). Avignon TGV station: 30 minutes by car.